Efficacy of prophylactic parenteral paracetamol to decrease rate of ductus patency in preterm infants

Objective: To find out the effectiveness of prophylactic parenteral paracetamol to minimize rates of ductus patency among preterm infants. Study Design: Case-control study. Setting: Department of Pediatrics, Sughra Shafi Medical Complex, Sahara Medical College, Narowal, Pakistan. Period: March 2020 to February 2021. Material & Methods: A total of 70 neonates (35 cases and 35 controls) having gestational age less than or equal to 34 weeks were enrolled. All 35 cases were administered prophylactic parenteral paracetamol as 20 mg per kg stat and 7.5 mg per kg 6 hourly for 1st 3 days of life while all controls were given no drugs. Echocardiography was performed in all 70 neonates after 1st three post-natal days to identify PDA. Data was analyzed using SPSS 26.0. Results: In a total of 70 neonates, 37 (52.9%) were male and 33 (47.1%) female. Overall, mean gestational age was noted to be 32.1+1.47 weeks while mean body weight was recorded to be 1424.6+229.7 grams. There were 6 neonates (17.1%) among cases who were found to have PDA in comparison to 23 (65.7%) in controls (p